Preheat oven to 375. Combine softened
butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until smooth, with hand mixer or stand
mixer (fit with paddle attachment). Combine dry ingredients in medium
bowl. Add half of dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just
combined, continue with rest of dry ingredients. Gently stir in
butterscotch chips. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto parchment paper lined
baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are just
started to brown and there are a few golden spots on top (my oven takes
9.5 minutes). Remove from oven and let sit on tray for 3 minutes.
Transfer to cooling rack. Store in airtight container. Makes 3-4 dozen
cookies. Store in an airtight container.

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Adapted from Pioneer Woman Bean With Bacon Soup. Tastes like a homemade version of Campbells
Vegetable Soup but with white beans instead of alphabet pasta. Pairs well with cornbread muffins! Also, it's a savory dairy free, gluten free, and low carb recipe. Perfect if you need to take a meal to someone with those needs.

Heat oil in soup pot over medium low to
medium heat. Saute onions and garlic over medium- low to medium heat
until tender (5-7 minutes). Pour in a enough broth to cover bottom of
pot and whisk in the tomato paste. Add rest of broth and bring to a
simmer. Add white beans, green beans, and carrots. Simmer covered for 15
minutes or until carrots are tender. Top individual servings with crumbled bacon.

For thin clear both, leave as is. For thicker broth dissolve 1-2
tablespoons of cornstarch in water and whisk into broth. Simmer for 3
minutes.

Kid Friendly Variation:
Roughly chop onions and sautee as directed with garlic. Transfer to blender and add tomato paste and half of the broth. Blend until smooth. Pour back into pot. Use rest of broth to get any remaining mixture off the sides of the blender and back into the pot.

Monday, September 5, 2016

I made this cake for my son's birthday as he is obsessed with Bob the Builder and anything associated with building. He also loves tape measures. I included a picture collage below of how I assembled it. I used a loaf pan for the main cake, froze it, and trimmed the sides off. Then I made the sides of the tool box, the tools, and the tape measure with sugar cookies. I used this recipe which makes a nice firm cookie that will hold up well. I used a sharp steak knife to saw off the ends because they were a little too tall. I free handed the cookie shapes with a sharp paring knife. I used wilton gel to dye the frosting. I used a plastic straw for the handle.

Monday, August 1, 2016

I optimized this
recipe recently and now I use it for everything from sugar cookies to
cakes. I think traditional buttercream is too strong and most cream
cheese frosting recipes are too soft for decorating. This has just the
right amount of cream cheese and as long as you add the right amount of
milk it's also perfect when using a piping bag. I prefer to use a hand
mixer with this recipe instead of a stand mixer. It provides better
control and you won't have to scrape down the sides. Basic recipe below is
vanilla (originally posted here), These updated variations include chocolate, peanut butter, lemon, and
strawberry (or other freeze dried fruit).

1/4 cup salted butter (room temp)

2 ounces cream cheese (room temp)

1/8-1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (white or dark)

300 grams powdered sugar

1-2 tablespoon milk

In a medium mixing bowl, whip butter
and cream cheese together with hand mixer until smooth. Mix in salt and
vanilla. Add powdered sugar and mix with hand mixer at high speed until
it clumps together and a stiff ball starts to form. Mix in milk in
teaspoons or drops to achieve desired consistency. I always check my
consistency with a butter knife. Since this frosting has cream cheese in
it, it should be refrigerated if not consumed the same day.

Variations (may omit or reduce vanilla, according to taste preference):

Preheat oven to 400. Mix dry
ingredients in mixing bowl. Add oil, egg, and milk up to one cup total
volume in measuring glass, add vanilla. Stir to mix in egg. Pour liquid
ingredients into dry ingredients and stir with fork until just combined.
Fold in blueberries with a spatula. Spoon into approximately 8-9
muffins cups. Sprinkle tops with coarse sugar. Bake at 400 for 18-20
minutes or until golden brown.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

This is my favorite
summer go-to dinner recipe. Black beans replace ground beef for as an easy and healthy variation. No cooking required! Keeps the kitchen cool
and is ready to serve in just 15 minutes!

Add onion, garlic, jalapeno, sugar, lime juice, and cumin to food processor and process until everything is well minced. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula a few times. Add the tomatoes and cilantro and pulse about
10-15 times, depending on how chunky or smooth you like it. Salt to taste. Eat or freeze within one week. Best to
refrigerate before serving.

*I use a small pairing knife or kitchen shears to cut out the stem ends of the tomatoes. I prefer to use Hunt's brand No Salt Added Whole Tomatoes.

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium
to medium high heat. Add rice and onion. Brown rice and chopped onion
until about half of the rice grains are
turning light brown. Stir frequently to prevent burning/sticking.
You don’t want to burn them but you want them pretty toasted. This is
important for the ﬁnal texture of the rice (slightly dry and not
sticky). Add bouillon cubes and water/tomato sauce mixture and stir.
Bring to boil, reduce to low simmer, cover, and cook for 18 - 25
minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed and the grains are
tender. Fluff rice and serve.

*I like to chop my onion really small in a food processor or grate
them with a cheese grater so I get the flavor but mask the texture.

Monday, March 14, 2016

This
soup tastes exactly like lasagna but you can make it in a fraction of
the time and it uses a lot less cheese. Cooking the noodles separately
will give you a clearer broth and thinner soup. If you cook the noodles
in the soup they tend to soak up too much of the broth. Serves 4-6
people.

Brown ground beef, drain, and set
aside. Bring pot of water to boil for the noodles.

Heat olive oil in
large soup pot over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic, over medium to
medium-low heat, stirring frequently, for 3-5 minutes or until onions
are tender and just starting to brown. Add enough beef broth to cover
bottom of pan and tomato paste and whisk until smooth. Add remaining
broth, entire can of petite diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, and ground
beef. Add basil, oregano, and sugar and stir well. Bring to low simmer
and cover for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile boil noodles, in prepared pot of
boiling water, until al dente; drain, rinse with cold water, and set
aside.

Combine ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and Italian
seasoning in small bowl and set aside. Add noodles to soup, stir, and
serve immediately. Garnish individual servings with a dollop of the
ricotta cheese mixture and a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese.

Monday, February 29, 2016

Very easy and kid
friendly meal. The cellentani noodles are a lot of fun. They are
basically a long elbow in a corkscrew shape. Barilla brand makes them
and you can find them at Walmart. Serves 4-6 people.

Combine cooked, drained, ground beef in
extra large skillet with broth, entire can of tomatoes, and taco
seasoning mix. Bring to boil and simmer over medium low or low, covered,
for 5 minutes. Add noodles and continue simmering, covered, for 10
minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, in a separate medium sauce
pan, melt better over low heat. Add flour and whisk continually over low
heat for 1 minutes. Slowly add milk while whisking. Once it begins to
thicken add the cheese and stir to melt. Remove from heat and keep
covered. Once the noodles have cooked for 10 minutes, add the cheese
sauce to noodle mixture and carefully stir until incorporated. Continue
cooking on low simmer, covered, until noodles reach desired tenderness. If
sauce is too thick, you can add more beef broth or water. Salt and
pepper to taste. Transfer to casserole dish before serving. Top individual servings with a dollop of sour cream (optional).

Add chicken broth and tomato paste to blender and blend until
smooth, at least 1 minute. Pour back into pan. Add coconut milk and
bring to low simmer. Add chicken, salt and pepper, and sugar. Cover and
stir occasionally until chicken is cooked and sauce starts to thicken.
Add butter and stir until melted. Adjust sugar and salt to taste. Serve
over yellow basmati rice (see recipe below) or any preferred rice. Variation: Replace half of chicken with fresh cubed pineapple.
Time Saver: Use a heaping tablespoon of jarred minced jalapeno instead of a fresh jalapeno.adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Yellow Basmati Rice

Pairs well with any Indian curry or just as a flavorful side dish.

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 tablespoon minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1.5 cups basmati rice

3 cups chicken broth

Heat the butter, turmeric, garlic,
cumin, cinnamon, and salt in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Stir
and heat until the butter has melted.

Add the rice to the pot. Stir constantly and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes to slightly toast the rice and spices.Add
3 cups of chicken broth. Place a lid on top, increase the heat to
medium high, and bring the pot to a rolling boil. As soon as it reaches a
full boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer (with the lid in place) for
15-20 minutes or until most of liquid is absorbed and the grains are
tender. Check at 15 minutes. Remove from heat, fluff with fork, salt to
taste, and serve. Adapted from budgetbytes.com.(Rice recipe updated 9-19-16, reduced amount of rice to 1.5 cups)

Preheat oven to 400. Crush cereal a little bit with rolling pin or heavy utensil, like a potato masher or ground beef masher. Combine crushed cereal, milk, oil, vanilla, egg, and sugar/honey in a medium bowl. Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and combine with a long fork until no dry flour remains. Fill 10-12 muffin cups. Bake at 400 for approximately 15-17 minutes or until golden brown and inserted toothpick comes out dry. Best eaten within 1 day. To reheat, spray with water and warm in microwave.

*Note: Once the bran flakes are crushed it should be about 3/4 cup. I save the crushed flakes and crumbs at the bottom of the bran flakes cereal bag in a jar over time, and then use those for this recipe and I measure out 3/4 cup.

Adapted from recipe on back of box of Millville Brand, Bran Flakes Cereal.